For 25 years, New York Times photographer Chester Higgins has been documenting spirituality throughout the African diaspora. Nearly 100 of his black and white photographs are part of the show Invoking the Spirit in the Changing Gallery at the American Jazz Museum until June 17, 2007. By Sylvia Maria Gross
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Kansas City, MO – Photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. grew up in Alabama, and became a child minister at the age of nine. This early immersion in religion stayed with him for the rest of his life. For 25 years, the New York Times photographer has been documenting spirituality throughout the African diaspora. 95 of his black and white photographs are in the Changing Gallery at the American Jazz Museum until June 17th.
Some of the prints are out-takes from his book Some Time Ago and Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa - that's just one of Higgins' five books of photographs. KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross spoke to Higgins just before the exhibits' opening last week, and he told her how he first developed the concept for the show.
This story was produced for KC Currents.